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Monday, July 11, 2016

Stained Glass

I
love watching stained glass windows at least in the churches and
official buildings. Therefore when I learned about 'House of the
Owls' near Rome I was wanting to see this famous house with beautiful
stained glass collection.

It's
situated in Villa Torlonia, to the north-east of Rome center. The
villa formerly belonging to the Torlonia family was the residence of
Prince Giovanni Torlonia until his death in 1938.

Later the outside of the house was faced with blocks of tuft, while the
inside began to convert into a residence with huge windows, loggias,
porticos, turrets, decorated with stained glass and majolica. When I
was looking at the house inside I was surprisedby large
stained glass windows on every floor with no two alike.

The
guide book said that twenty rooms include 54 pieces of stained glass
in their original positions, 18 pieces of stained glass acquired and
displayed on separate frames.

Among
many decorative elements on two levels that were particularly
highly decorated stucco work, mosaics, poly-chrome majolica, inlaid
wood, wrought iron, the stained glass was the distinctive feature of
the house. It was produced in the workshops of Cesare Picchiarini and
installed between 1908 and 1930. This one of the black swans and autumn red leaves I liked very much.

'House
of the Owls' originally built in 1840 was designed as a Swiss
holiday home on the opposite side of the park where the members of
the resident Torlonia family could hide away and relax over the
course of an evening with friends. The building began to be known as
the 'House of the Owls' probably because the motif of the owl is used
widely in the decorations, furnishings and above the entrance.

The
Villa was bought by the Municipality of Rome in 1977 and a year later
it was opened to the public, but with many of the buildings in a
run-down state. Restoration was initiated in the 1990s. The current
appearance of the 'House of the Owls' is the result of long, patient and
meticulous restoration work for one of the most unusual and
interesting buildings of the early years of the last century.

What do you think: canstained glassbe utilizedat home or only inofficial buildings? In whatroomscan be setstained glass windows - in the bedroom,in the living roomor on the terrace?

Stunning glass work. Thank you for sharing. I took one stained glass class and have always wanted to take another. I love stained glass above a door, on a landing, or as a small focal point in a room. I probably would have needed another camera battery - beautiful. :-)

Nadezda, thank you for the gorgeous post! I too hadn't heard before of this place. Art deco (?) is not my favourite style, but these stained-glass and majolica works are truly wonderful.I too love churches with stained glass windows...In our previous home (in Italy), we had stained glass (very simple square patterns) in our front doors, and in the future, when finally renovating the current home, I hope to have something similar in doors and some windows as well. :)Have a lovely new week!

I love stained glass windows and over here in Britain it is used a lot, both in big public buildings and in private homes. I wish I could afford to have one made for my front door, that’s what most people have here in their homes. Your photos show a real mix of traditional and contemporary glass windows, I am not sure which ones I like the most, they are all so beautiful – I think I liked the ones with the peacocks best, would love to have such a window in my house. I also liked the waterlily tiles, really beautiful.

Helene, waterlily tiles are beautiful, I agree. I'd like to have the similar ones in my bathroom:) but I think they're expensive :(. In peacocks glass I liked bright blue-green colors that look very vernal.

Hello Nadezda girl !Yes ! send me lots of rain because we can surely use it ! My rain barrel is near to empty .. BIG sigh !I love this amazing House of Owls .. it is gorgeous with all of the stained glass .. I am a fan of it and love rich colours that bath a room in warmth from those beautiful designs ... it must be magical to see the light cast through them. This was a wonderful post !

It's really magical to see a room in colored lights, Joy. I'd love to have a stained glass window as well.Our rain has gone to your place. Forecast promises dry days here, so wait for thundery rain in your garden!

Thank you for sharing these beautiful stained glass windows and the story of the house. I really like photos 4 and 5 with such rich colours and trailing vines. If I could choose one for my home, I would like a small panel in the front door.

Very lovely windows! Thank You for sharing!Long time ago we had here possibility to try a little tiffany-technique (with tin edges) by ourselves. It was really interesting all this cutting, matching, heating a.s.o. Finally we got some little nice souvenirs and we hang them up near windows (like Christmas decorations) to catch and share sun. I can't find photo of mine and as I gave it to mother, I cant take new photo too right now. But try to do it some day.

I love stained glass there's something magical about how the light enters it and the reflections it creates. The whole house looks an interesting design. Great photos! Shows lots of detail, I like the water lily tiles too :)

I also love stained glasses and thank you for this post. What an amazing house and stained glasses. I especially liked the one with white flowers (seem like lotus or some kind of such flowers). Gorgeous. And you took lovely pictures. Are you in Rome now? Have lots of fun but stay safe.

Welcome to Nadezda's Northern Garden!

I am Nadezda, a garden blog author for 6 years. I started this blog so that I wanted to share my love of gardening with others.There are over 250 articles on gardening, planting, some features of my garden landscape design, maintenance, soil, seedlings. I'm interested in travel, visiting Botanic Gardens and parks, my city Saint Petesburg.I look forward to and welcome your comments. I will try my best to answer all your questions.